Lessons From the Garden
When God Walks, Everything Changes

There’s something sacred about a garden.
It’s where everything started.

And it’s where everything was restored.
From Eden to Gethsemane to the Empty Tomb, every turning point in God’s redemptive plan happened in a garden.

And if you’ll meet Him there, your story can turn too.

Let’s take a walk through three gardens—and the three phases of your relationship with God.

1. A Garden of Communion: When God Walked With Us

The Garden of Eden wasn’t just paradise—it was the first sanctuary.
It wasn’t just about fruit, rivers, and gold—it was about walking with God.

Genesis tells us that Adam and Eve could hear “the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day.”

That means it wasn’t the first time.
It was normal for God to walk with them.

They were naked and unashamed—not because they had no clothes, but because they were clothed in glory.
No fig leaves. No guilt. Just communion.

That’s always been the heart of God.
Not religion.
Relationship.

But one act of rebellion changed everything.

2. A Garden of Separation: When We Walked Alone

The moment they sinned, everything shifted.
Shame entered.
Fig leaves came out.
They hid from the very One who used to walk with them.

God asked, “Adam, where are you?”
It wasn’t a question of location.
It was a question of relationship.

“I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked…” —Genesis 3:10

Fear replaced faith.
Separation replaced intimacy.
And for the first time, man walked alone.

God sacrificed an animal to cover them—a prophetic picture of what was to come.
Then He drove them out of Eden… not to punish them, but to protect them.

Because without restoration, no one can stand in His glory.

3. A Garden of Restoration: When Jesus Walked Alone So We Didn’t Have To

Thousands of years later, the plan that was whispered in Eden was fulfilled in another garden—Gethsemane.

The place of the oil press.

There, Jesus—fully God but walking as fully man—sweat drops of blood.
He cried, “Not My will, but Yours be done.”
He crushed His flesh before the nails ever touched His body.

The cross was salvation.
But the Garden was surrender.

And just like the first Adam, Jesus was tempted.
But where the first Adam hid behind a tree, Jesus hung on one.

He took our shame.
He absorbed the curse.
He walked alone so that we never have to again.

And then, in one final garden—the tomb—He flipped the script.

Mary didn’t recognize Him at first.
She thought He was… the gardener.

She wasn’t wrong.

Jesus was restoring what Adam lost.

He was reclaiming the Garden.

What Does This Mean for You?

You were created to walk with God.
Not just on Sundays.
Not just during crisis.
Every day.
Every garden moment.
Maybe your Eden has been lost.
Maybe you’ve been walking alone.
Maybe you’ve sewn your own fig leaves, trying to cover the mess.
Maybe shame has told you, “Don’t let Him see you like this.”

But He’s still walking in the cool of the day.
And He’s still asking, “Where are you?”

Come back to the Garden.

Let Him restore what was broken.
Let Him clothe you in glory again.
Let Him take you from hiding to healing.

This isn’t just a story about Adam and Eve.
It’s about you.

You were made for communion.
You were called out of hiding.
And you were saved for a restored relationship.

Meet Him in the Garden.

He’s waiting.

Larry Ragland
© Larry Ragland Ministries